


Under the Weather

by lillpon



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Illness, Tower Tales, it's got a happy ending don't worry, probably inaccurate medicine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 01:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16608953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillpon/pseuds/lillpon
Summary: Young Alice gets very ill and Killian tries to help her.





	Under the Weather

Alice had been feeling unwell the past few days. It had started with a bit of weakness and lack of hunger, but Killian had thought nothing of it. It had happened before, after all.  
  
But this time it kept on for so long that Killian wasn’t surprised to see she had a fever first thing in the morning.  
  
He quickly prepared some water for tea and brought her two pieces of hardtack.  
  
“I’m not hungry..” she mumbled, still in bed.  
  
“You need to put something in your belly, love. It’ll give you strength.”  
  
She reluctantly pulled her hand out of her heavy blanket and grabbed the hardtack. Killian walked back to check her tea, glancing at her to make sure she was still eating. By the time the tea was ready she hadn’t even eaten half of the first one.  
  
“Here,” he said as he sat down on her bed. “Drink this.”  
  
Alice scrunched her nose at the scent. “Don’t like it.”  
  
“Do you like being sick? Come on, one sip at a time.” He gently brought his left arm behind her neck and lifted her slightly, as he brought the cup to her lips. She took a sip and he was glad to see her not react badly to it. “That’s my girl,” he said as he set her back on the headboard, keeping her head a bit high. “Eat your hardtack.”  
  
When he saw her fever rise even after he’d made her more tea and set a cloth drenched in cold water on her forehead, the first feeling of panic started to settle. It was the first time she’d been sick for so long.  
  
“Alice? Love?” he said simply, touching his hand on her cheek.  
  
Alice only hummed to him, trying to raise her head.  
  
“No, no, don’t move. The cloth may slip.”  
  
“Hug,” she said.  
  
He sighed and took a glance at the window. If he ran, he could be to the village and back in about two hours. If he took a horse for the way back, it would take him less than that. He turned towards his daughter and decided to humor her a little, at least until she fell back asleep. He raised her blanket and slipped in next to her, bringing her close to his chest.  
  
She sighed audibly at the touch, but Killian felt a shiver down his spine when he felt how she was shaking slightly. Her whole body was hot to the touch, maybe he should uncover her a little... he picked up the top of her blanket and pulled it down to her waist, but it only deteriorated her shivering. Killian swallowed hard seeing even her lips tremble.  
  
“Cold,” she said.  
  
It was all he needed to bring the blanket back up to her chin. He held her close, knowing he needed the touch almost as much as she did.  
  
When she finally stopped trembling and her breathing slowed down, he finally pulled back a little. He saw her eyes move behind her eyelids and hoped she wasn’t being subjected to feverish nightmares.  
  
He got out of bed and started getting ready to leave. He replaced the now warm cloth on her forehead with a new one, kissed her cheek and whispered to her, “I’ll be right back. I love you.” He kissed her cheek again and turned to the window.  
  
It took him much longer than anticipated to get a medicine. The pharmacist wasn’t pleased with the few information Killian was giving to him, saying he needed to know more.  
  
“Is it an infection of some kind? A virus?” he asked, frustrated.  
  
“I don’t know... I don’t think so? She hasn’t been out in a while... can’t you give me just, anything that could help?”  
  
“If I don’t know all the details, what I give you may make things worse,” he said with a face. “From what you told me, it sounds like a virus. The only thing I can give you now is this,” he said, choosing a vial from his collection. “It won’t do the job on its own, but it will probably help her fight through the symptoms until she’s strong enough to fight it on her own. Make sure she drinks all of it.”  
  
Killian looked at the vial, uncertain. He really had to try something... but he wondered how it was possible she even got that sick. Their home was kept clean at all times, she was never exposed to anything remotely contagious...  
  
He sighed deeply, deciding that the pharmacist probably knew better, even with the limited information he had. He paid for the medicine and turned to the door, scowling hard when he saw it was pouring rain.  
  
It would take him twice the time to walk up the path to the forest and trek through it to get to the tower... unless he had a horse to take him to the beginning of the forest.  
  
Starting to feel extremely anxious at how long he’d been missing from home, not knowing how Alice was faring alone, he wasn’t even thinking as he simply grabbed the reins of the first horse he found and mounted it.  
  
He was only thinking of his Alice through the whole trip, not caring how he was soaked to the bone and almost slipped off the horse three times.  
  
_I’m coming, Starfish. Hold on._  
  
He hadn’t realized he’d reached the end of the path until the horse stopped and started neighing, starting to try to turn away.  
  
“Whoa, whoa,” he said absent-mindedly as he halted the horse to a stop. He unmounted it, turned it to face back towards the village then slapped its buttocks, not even caring if it would make it back to its owner. He turned to the forest and ran.  
  
He slipped more than a few times, arms and lower legs dripping with mud, but he only cared to make sure the vial was still safe and full in his jacket pocket.  
  
His breathing was hard, coming out in short clouds of air when he reached the tower, and it was the first time he wondered if the whole journey in the rain would make _him_ sick. But he still didn’t care. He had to go back to his daughter.  
  
“Alice!” he shouted as he started to climb. “I’m coming!”  
  
He thanked his lucky stars there were enough holes in the stones to not make his ascend dangerous, even with them dripping with water and even though it took him longer than usual.  
  
He finally reached the windowsill, feeling breathless and cold and bone-tired, but he only looked up to see Alice.  
  
“Alice?” he said, out of breath. “I’m here.”  
  
He got no answer.  
  
“Alice?”  
  
He nearly jumped from the windowsill to the floor, barely having the clarity of mind to take his dirty jacket off before he leaned over the bed. Alice was sprawled over the bed, mouth open and eyes closed.  
  
“Alice? Alice!” he said, shaking her shoulders.  
  
It only took three seconds for her to make a sound. His three centuries of life suddenly felt much shorter than those seconds. It was a soft, barely audible sound, but it meant she was still there.  
  
“I’m here, Starfish. I’m here now.” He sat down on the bed and held her against his chest, shivering at how hot she felt. Was it just him coming from the freezing rain, or had her fever raised that high while he was out? His shivers started mixing with sobs at the thought of what could have happened, of what could _still_ happen...  
  
He bit down hard on his lip as he set her down on the bed to retrieve the vial. She mumbled a tired protest, even for the few seconds it took him to come back to her.  
  
“I'm here, I'm here,” he said softly as he sat on the bed again, vial in hand. He picked her up again, left arm around her back as she slumped on his chest. “Alice. Alice, love, I got you some medicine. You need to drink this, aye?”  
  
She didn't respond aside from shivering. She was burning, he should put another cloth on her forehead...  
  
“It's Papa,” he whispered in her ear. “I'm going to give you some medicine now, try and swallow it, yes, love?”  
  
He didn't wait for a response. He moved a little, making her head tilt slightly backwards, and poured a bit of the medicine in her mouth. She immediately protested, scrunching her eyes and whining, but she finally swallowed.  
  
“Yuck,” she said, moving her head a bit to the side, as if wanting to avoid the rest of the medicine.  
  
He chanced a sniff at it and nearly threw up at the disgusting scent. How... how was that thing supposed to make her feel any better?  
  
He froze for a little while, his sick daughter on one arm, and the possible cure on his hand. What should he do? He ran all the way to the village and back, paid a fortune for the medicine, what if it didn’t work?  
  
Well, he didn’t have much choice, did he?  
  
“Come on, once more,” he said softly and gave her more of the medicine.  
  
She protested again at the taste, face scrunching and tears slipping from her eyes.  
  
“No, no, Starfish, please... it’ll make you feel better,” he said as he brought the bottle close to her lips again.  
  
She shook her head, tears still falling from her eyes. Killian put the cork back in the bottle and brought his arm around Alice’s head, holding her close. She shivered, but leaned into the embrace, probably appreciating the cool feeling, even as Killian’s teeth were on the verge of clattering together.  
  
“It’s alright,” he said. “Bit by bit.”  
  
It took the best of half an hour to convince her to drink the whole bottle, and by the time she did he felt utterly exhausted. He set her down on the bed where she stayed, unmoving. He replaced the cloth on her forehead and then he finally changed into dry, warm clothes.  
  
He found himself unable to rest, his worry about his sick daughter too high, so he sat on the armchair in front of the fire. His hand was shaking slightly and he knew it wasn’t from the cold. He cast glances at Alice from time to time, making sure her chest was moving.  
  
Still feeling unrest, he took a deep sigh and walked to the window. There weren’t a few times that he wished he could switch places with Alice. As worried as he could grow for her, he would sacrifice so much - even all - of his freedom if it meant she could go outside - even without him. He sighed again when Alice spoke softly.  
  
“Papa?”  
  
He whipped around and almost ran to her bed. “I’m here. I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”  
  
“Hug,” she said again, lifting her arms under the blanket.  
  
“Alright,” he said and climbed in next to her. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt she wasn’t that hot anymore. It could be that he wasn’t drenched in cold water anymore, but she felt cooler than even before he’d left. He kissed her forehead and she wrapped her arms and legs around him in a tight grip. He felt relief again thinking how her strength was starting to come back.  
  
He set his head down on the pillow and started singing.  
  
_My young love said to me..._  
  
~  
  
It was dawn when he woke up. Alice was still clutching him, asleep, still warm but less so than before. He smiled as he kissed her forehead again.  
  
He gently pulled her arms and legs from around him and got out of bed, making sure she was still nicely tuck in. He once again changed the cloth on her forehead, set the fire on again and made some mushroom soup. When it was prepared, he walked to the bed to wake Alice up.  
  
“Alice? Love? I made some soup, you should eat.”  
  
Alice hummed and stretched under the mattress, and Killian smiled seeing her strength come back bit by bit.  
  
“Come on, Starfish. Can you sit up?”  
  
She shook her head, but smiled all the while.  
  
Killian snorted a laugh. “Don’t take advantage of your old man, young lady,” he said, but picked her up and helped her rest on the headboard. She leaned her head back a little as he put the cloth back on and she opened her eyes. She smiled again.  
  
“Come on, open up. Big mouth,” he said, making a face and distorting his voice.  
  
She stuck her tongue out at him at his tease, but she let him feed her until she insisted she ate the rest of it on her own. He still held the bowl close to her as she ate, and he watched her with a pride smile on his face. She was going to be alright.  
  
She yawned when she finished, and Killian picked up the bowl and spoon and stood up.  
  
“Go back to sleep. You need rest,” he said, kissing her forehead and turning to the kitchen. He watched her wiggle back under the covers, a satisfied smile on her face, until she relaxed on the mattress and her breathing slowed down again.  
  
He smiled himself. She’d made it.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how accurate the whole medicine thing is. I just wanted to write it this way and didn't really have it in me to go into deep research for this.
> 
> Also, Killian really is confused at how Alice got sick while living in a very clean house, because he doesn't know about antibodies and how they work, so...


End file.
